Monascus-fermented rice is a purple red rice koji prepared by using rice as raw material via fermentation with Monascus. Monascus-fermented rice is also called Danqu () in ancient China, which is obtained via fermenting koji or mold (with Monascus as the main genus) on steamed rice; it is red color, and thus is also called red koji, red rice, or red wine dregs; and it is also called Fujian koji, Fujian rice, etc., because it is primarily produced in Fujian.
China has a long history of utilizing Monascus, and it has been used for koji making since Han Dynasty. Monascus-fermented rice is a traditional Chinese medicine as both food and drug. It had been widely used in the field of food coloring, wine-making, fermentation, Chinese medicine as early as in ancient times. “<Principle of Correct Proper Diet”>() has the recordation that Monascus-fermented rice is of “sweet taste and neutral nature and smooth in taste, non-toxic”, “invigorating spleen, supplementing Qi, warming spleen and stomach”; <Compendium of Materia Medica>() has the recordation of “tonifying spleen, benefiting QI, warming spleen-stomach”; “Compendium of Materia Medica” () has recitations “sweet, warm, non-toxic”, “capable of treating dysmenorrheal, extravasated blood after delivery, by grinding with rice wine and then drinking”; “<Addendum for Amplification on Materia Medica”>() has recordation of “activating blood, helping digestion, invigorating spleen and warming stomach, capable of treating red and white vaginal discharge and diarrhea, as well as traumatic injury”, etc.
Since 1970s when Prof. Endo of Japan firstly separated a physiologically active substance, monacolin K from Monascus rubber, many researchers home and abroad discovered continually from Monascus metabolites physiologically active substances, including monacolin compounds, monascus pigment, pressure releasing component GABA and antioxidant component dimerumic acid, and some terpenoids being separated recently. With the development of modern biochemistry and pharmacology, functions of Monascus-fermented rice such as hypolipemic, loweringing blood pressure, hpyerglycemic, anti-obesity, anticancer, prophylaxis and treatment of senile dementia and osteoporosis are continuously revealed, which add more connotations to traditional Monascus-fermented rice.
“Xuezhikang” capsules are an alcohol extract of Monascus-fermented rice, which are rich in a series of natural statin compounds, monacolin K, dehydromonacolin K, monacolin L, dihydromonacolin K and other monacolin analogues. In addition, Xuezhikang capsules also contain pigment compounds, isoflavone compounds, sterol compounds, 20 kinds of amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids, and many trace elements. The isoflavone compounds mainly include genistein, daidzein, and glycitein, whose content is about 0.045%; sterol compounds are in an amount of about 0.3%, and mainly include ergosterol, stigmasterol, and sitosterol.